Editor's note: Connie Snyder is a retired columnist for the spiritualFocus page in The Times and a Hammond resident. We welcome her return as a guest columnist today.

Reading the headline in The Times' Oct. 29 article on the senseless murder of Milton and Ruby McClendon, "Son Blames 'failure of parenting' for slayings," I shouted AMEN!. . . That's it, . .That's it!

Yet sociologists, anti-gun advocates and the mayor of Chicago still blame guns. I remember in the late 60's, comedian Pat Paulson said, "Guns don't kill, . . . it's the bullets."

Well, I'd say, "Its not guns that kill, it's the thugs that pull the trigger". . . (same logic). This is not an endorsement for the NRA, nor am I taking a political stance, I'm just stating facts. And yes, I am for the Second Amendment.

I'm baffled when I hear Mayor Richard Daley sermonize about the problem of all the gang killings in Chicago, saying, "It's the guns. We must ban the guns."

I yell back at the TV and say, "You really don't get it, do you?"

The remedy is the home and God-fearing parenting. Many gang members have never met their biological fathers. Often, there are several siblings in the same family, each having a different father (all absent). I believe this is one reason why gangs form in the first place. There is a hunger for a male father-figure.

Too often, parents have abandoned their God-given roles and abdicated them to the streets. Some wives complain that their husbands live at home but are all but invisible. A "weak" father can be as detrimental as an absent one.

A couple of weeks ago, I heard Mayor Daley talking on the radio after his trip to Denmark. He was shaming the person who "sold" the cell phone film to a network TV station, inferring they were "profiting" from a tragedy.

The film showed the brutal, beating murder of an honor student getting his head bashed in with a two-by-four. But that same film also identified the murderers. Shouldn't that be commended? And since the weapon was a two-by-four, can we expect those to be banned, too?

Theo McClendon was quoted as saying, "Parenting begins with the 'Terrible Twos.'"

Right again! Toddlers are like sponges; they absorb everything. Concepts of right and wrong, and a belief in God, are all learned at the knee. Parents are the main educators for the first five years of a child's life.

Parental authority can be god-like to a little child. What a blessed opportunity, yet, what a fearful responsibility that is.

The McClendon legacy is revealed in the lives of their three fine sons, the true products of "right parenting." I would love to see Theodore McClendon get into political office. He'd make a huge difference. He has star quality.

I'm sure I speak for all the citizens of Hammond when I extend our heartfelt sympathy to the McClendon sons and their families.

Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.